Thursday, October 7, 2010

ohhh dishwasher...

Oh how I miss my dishwasher. At the hostel I stayed in the other weekend, we were allowed to borrow plates, utensils, and cups. But, you washed them after you were done. All I could think about was how some people probably did not wash them appropriately! Haha.. I do dishes at my house sometimes when I feel like it.

Today at lunch, my brother took his plate to the sink when he was done eating then left to go somewhere. Since I was done eating, I took my plate to the sink too. But, my papa told me to come sit back down. I think he thought I was going to leave too. He was trying to explain that everyone sits there together even if they are done. That is one thing we never did at my real home and I do not like to do it. I mean, here, the television is on during meals? At my real home, we never had the television on.

The other day at school, there was a drunk girl. She looked about fifteen. Her friends were holding her up and she was mumbling. She was escorted to the office. I do not know what the alcohol policy is here but it does not seem strict at all. The smoking policy isn’t… ha, I mean, kids some right outside the school. On school breaks, they walk to this little store and can buy one cigarette.

I tried to take a test the other day… yeah, it did not work. The teacher did not even take my test. But, the sad thing is… I saw everyone cheating. They would hide this other sheet and copy answers from it. I had never seen so many people cheat before ever in my life. Then, other countries say the education system back home is easy. Please! Here, we go for less hours, have less classes, have more breaks, and it is not mandatory for everyone to go.

My one teacher said “how did you land here?” He meant how did I get here. We were talking about my Spanish and he was wondering how I was able to come since my Spanish is not perfect. Of course I need to work on it… all the exchange students aren’t perfect at Spanish. It is kind of hard when all I have spoken is English for 18 years of my life. His comment offended me. But, then I looked at him and realized he was just an old man who was teaching only because he it is his job. So, I smiled and laughed… I explained how it was common to go somewhere and not be fluent in their language yet.

The students always mess with our one teacher. Everyone he comes into the classroom, they turn the light off and pretend to sleep. I feel bad for him. But then I think it is funny how students are alike here. Back home, you knew what teachers you could push a little more and not pay attention in class. I have noticed here that in different classes, the students have different mannerisms. The odd thing is that the teachers do not dress up! Also, it is common for students to have white out pens! Ha

I find it funny how everyone carries a backpack. We do not have books here. Occasionally we have handouts that are a few pieces of paper. (handouts which you pay to copy- haha no thanks) But I do not understand why everyone needs a backpack for a few pieces of paper. I do not carry one. My lovely brother puts my stuff in his backpack. I started to take my Spanish book to school. Instead of taking notes, I work on exercises out of Spanish book. I could take notes but not understand them anyways so I figured I better do something productive.

Taking the bus has become easier. For the first time, a bus inspector came on the bus the other day. I always wondered why we were given tickets… I thought they were a waste of paper. Anyways, he looked at the ticket and ripped it. All he does is make sure we have a ticket. If we do not have a ticket, he makes us pay the price that we already should have paid for a ticket. I guess they might have an issue with people sneaking on the bus? If they sneak on, I do not think it is a fair punishment that they just have to pay the original price. But, ohwell, I am not in control of that.

My family bought ice cream the other day. The kind that has three different varieties. It was strawberry, vanilla, and dulce de leche. Here, if you want ice cream, you can buy it at the ice cream shop. It is not like I go to Dairy Queen to buy a cartoon of ice cream for my family. So, I find that odd. Haha

The first weekend in November, I have a swim meet. Everyone swims the same events and it is three days long. Friday night, Saturday morning and night, and Sunday morning. I have gone to two day meets back home but they last ALL of the two days. I have to swim breaststroke which I am not excited about… haha but I will live. Two days after the meet, I am going on a trip with other exchange students. It is about 17 days long… we are going to the Patagonia! I get to miss school… then after the trip, it is basically summer vacation.

I actually miss paying tax on items. I am always ready to have out extra money to cover the tax but there isn’t any. Haha

I have been thinking about colleges…and I really want to swim on a team again. So, I think I might switch the college that I was planning on attending. I do not care if I am the slowest on the team. I love practicing and spending time with the team at meets. Who knows where I will go… but, for now, I have time to think about it.

Today I did not have school. It is some religious holiday for my province. I did not quite understand… but, it is something about a virgin.. Santa m(something) was her name… She is the patron saint of Jujuy. So, today they are celebrating her. Maybe it is her feast day? Who knows… but even the banks and some other places are closed. It was nice to not go to school… but I had to get up even earlier than I do for school anyways. I had swim practice this morning. Then, I basically slept the whole day.